Sadly, its message — “Spoiled Rotten Dogs Live Here” — no longer applies to the badly damaged house after a mid-morning fire Thursday.

A pair of Siberian huskies perished from smoke inhalation. The pure white 7- and 9-year-old animals, named Dakota and Snowball, were found upstairs, one in the hallway, the other in a bedroom, according to Deputy Fire Chief Scott Dexter.

“I just had them to the vet,” Wisnewski said through inconsolable tears. “They were in perfect health. I can’t believe I’ve lost them.”

Taunton’s animal control officer readied a pair of green litters, both too short to carry an adult human.

EMTs and firefighters asked Wisnewski if she wanted to walk away while her beloved animals were removed from the charred home.

“Are they bad?” She asked. “Are they all burnt up? I can deal with it. I want to see them. I’d rather see them than not see them.”

A pair of EMTs escorted Wisnewski to a sheltered spot behind a dripping pump truck as firefighters solemnly carried the litters, one at a time, through the front door, across the driveway and to a waiting animal control van.

One of the EMTs, Susan Parker, put her arm around Wisnewski and urged her to drink more water from the sweating bottle she clutched in her hands.

“It was my job to take care of those animals,” she wept.

“And you did,” Parker assured her. “You did take care of them. You are a very special person.”

Wisnewski rescued the animals from a shelter when they were two and four.

“I’ve never paid for an animal,” she said. “I’ve adopted six over the years. My last dog’s ashes are in there, on the fireplace.”

She pointed toward the house and broke down again.

The heat and humidity were stifling at the scene. Taunton Emergency Management distributed cold bottles of water.

Emerging from the still smoking domicile, firefighters removed gas masks and took in as much liquid as possible. No firefighters were injured fighting the fire.

Dexter said flames were extinguished within about 20 minutes after arriving on scene.

“We attacked from the front door and pushed right out the back window.”

Investigators started combing through the debris around 11 a.m. as firefighters knocked down still-smoldering hotspots.

Taunton Fire Chief Timothy Bradshaw arrived on scene after the flames were extinguished. He estimated nearly 20 city firefighters battled the blaze.

The tiny lane off Bay Street was packed with apparatus, including a ladder truck, four engines and a rescue truck.

“This weather,” Bradshaw said, wiping his brow. “You’ve got to stay hydrated fighting fires in this heat and humidity. The older guys have been telling the younger guys how important it is to drink water. They’re in a burning building wearing 60-plus pounds of equipment, working in the heat and your body can’t get rid of it.”

Wisnewski left her house for work around 9:10 a.m. The fire was reported about a half hour later.

“I don’t know what could have happened,” she said. “I always look around before I leave. I left two fans on for the dogs. Oh my God. I left two fans on. Could that be it? Can someone tell me what happened?”

A police officer in her driveway told her he’d find out what he could.

Wisnewski got a call on the job, at the bakery department in Raynham’s new Walmart on Route 138, from family friend Justin Korski. She rushed to the scene, weaving through stiff July 3 traffic.

“I heard the fire on the scanner,” he said, putting his arm around Wisnewski shortly after she was told her dogs didn’t survive.

The woman’s cell phone rang. Another friend had heard about the fire.

“My babies,” she said into her cell phone. “My house was on fire. My dogs died.”

After the call, she held her cell phone up to show her screensaver, an image from happier times. Dakota and Snowball lay curled together. Both dogs’ brilliant blue eyes pierced through the glare reflecting off the flip phone’s screen.

Though their snow white bodies were hard to discern under the blazing sun, the eyes were bright and clear.